1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer command control apparatus, method and system, a printer to be connected to the printer command control apparatus, and a program and a storage medium, and in particular, to a printer command control apparatus, method and system for executing a command described with a tag of HTML, a printer to be connected to the printer command control apparatus, and a program and a storage medium.
2. Related Background Art
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) as a page description language is used as a reserved word placed between “<” and “>” that is called a tag, and can perform shaping of a text, designation of a display position of an image file, or the like.
In order to browse a file in an HTML format accumulated in a web server on the Internet, a web browser program is required as software. This web browser program is devised so as to interpret a tag described in this HTML format and display contents of the file in the HTML format as a result of interpretation.
Examples of an apparatus representative as a NonPC apparatus that is generally called an Internet appliance include a “WebTV” and an “air-board” proposed by Sony Corporation. These appliances not only receive and display a general television broadcast but also may be provided with a web browser program therein, connected with a web server via the Internet, and have a web browsing function. Such a NonPC apparatus can be connected with a printer such as an ink-jet printer to print web contents. However, since the NonPC apparatus is not provided with the Windows (registered trademark) OS (operation system), it cannot operate complicated software as a PC apparatus does. For example, the NonPC apparatus such as the “air-board” runs based on a simple OS called VxWorks.
However, despite the fact that, in particular, it is essential for a NonPC apparatus connected to an ink-jet printer to apply maintenance processing such as cleaning and head alignment adjustment to the ink-jet printer when the ink-jet printer is used, a printer driver program to be installed in the NonPC apparatus is written simply. Thus, since the printer driver program is not provided with a user interface for printing specific to the ink-jet printer, the NonPC apparatus cannot apply the maintenance processing to the ink-jet printer.
Thus, a NonPC apparatus that is connected to the web server via the Internet and has a web browsing function is proposed, in which, in an attempt to embed a printer maintenance command peculiar to each printer manufacturer (hereinafter referred to as “manufacturer”) in an HTML file provided with a complicated user interface like a Windows (registered trademark) driver, a web browser program is customized, whereby the embedded printer maintenance command peculiar to each manufacturer can be transmitted to an ink-jet printer.
In a NonPC apparatus operated by a simple OS that is not provided with the Windows (registered trademark) driver, a printer maintenance command can be embedded in an HTML file and this command can be sent to an ink-jet printer. However, since the printer maintenance command is peculiar to each manufacturer and, at the same time, a web browser program cannot edit data of an HTML format file, printer maintenance command are not compatible among manufacturers and are not unified. In addition, a printer maintenance command is constituted by a command header portion and a command portion, which do not include information for specifying a manufacturer. Thus, when an ink-jet printer of another manufacturer is connected to the NonPC apparatus due to some reason in a state in which an HTML file (display file) having, control commands such as a printer maintenance command embedded therein is held in the NonPC apparatus, control commands such as a printer maintenance command without compatibility may be erroneously sent to the ink-jet printer of another manufacturer.
In this case, since the ink-jet printer cannot understand the sent command, it has an inconvenience of performing so-called trash printing. In addition, since a control code for discharging sheets is not generally included in the printer maintenance command, a sheet cannot be discharged after the trash printing is performed, and the sheet is left in the ink-jet printer. Moreover, when the next printing begins, it is performed from the middle of the sheet left in the ink-jet printer, or as a result of occurrence of inconsistency of a command length, a plurality of sheets are discharged continuously.